


Huck and Stephen - Repentence

by lopingloup



Series: Huck and Stephen [5]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Abuse, Alcohol, Broken Bones, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Nonhuman, POV Nonhuman, Physical Abuse, Protective, Unwanted Sexual Attention, Violence, Whump, Whumpee, beaten, caretaker, drunk men being creeps, injured, nonhuman whumpee
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:28:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26070415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lopingloup/pseuds/lopingloup
Summary: Things go downhill again :(
Relationships: Original Character & Original Character, Pet & Alyse
Series: Huck and Stephen [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1892587
Kudos: 11





	Huck and Stephen - Repentence

**Author's Note:**

> Graphic violence in this one folks. Also drunk men being creeps.

The place Alyse and her friends went to turned out to be sickeningly bright, the large windows at the front showing how packed full of people it was, and Pet briefly pulled back on the leash in instinctive fear as Alyse went to go inside. Harrison would have just dragged them, but Alyse stopped in the doorway to give them a confused look, and moved protectively in front of them when a group of people pushed past.

“It’s alright,” Alyse said gently, as if to a pup. Pet just looked pleadingly up at her, but it was clear from the impatient looks from her friends and how Alyse shrugged helplessly at them that she wanted to go inside and couldn’t understand why Pet was pulling away. And Pet couldn’t risk Alyse getting irritated, or ditching them outside.

So they screwed up the scraps of their courage and let Alyse coax them through the doors, keeping very close to her, because she didn’t seem to mind. She even rubbed behind their ears while she and the other two were ordering food.

It was better once they sat down. Pet dived immediately under the table and could have cried with relief, if they weren’t so exhausted, at being able to curl up away from the bright lights and the buzzing crowd of people. Alyse tilted her head to give them a bemused look as she sat down, but didn’t try to pull them out and Pet was finally left in peace. She handed them chips under the table and Pet licked her fingers in thanks, and between the food, the warmth, and the fragile sense of safety, Pet was soon half-asleep, their head resting on their paws, tucked beside Alyse’s yellow shoes.

But, eventually, they had to leave.

Stepping out into the cold street and walking down to the corner, one woman stayed with Alyse whilst the other went to knock on the window of a car parked by the side of the street, a yellow box glowing on its roof. Pet stayed close to Alyse, who was shivering in just her dress. Gently pressing themself against Alyse’s bare leg, Pet hoped to warm her up and Alyse absently rubbed their head. Pet’s tail was throbbing something awful but as long as they kept it still, it was mostly bearable.

“What’re you going to do with it now though, Lys?” Alyse’s friend asked.

Pet looked up at Alyse nervously, wondering the very same thing. Alyse glanced down at them, a frown between her brows. She flicked her hair out of her face and sighed.

“Take them back to mine, I guess.”

“What? And just keep it- them?” her friend demanded. Pet tensed, fairly certain that wasn’t allowed. They belonged to Master Parry, they couldn’t be claimed by just anyone, could they? But what did they know? Master frequently reminded them there were dogs more intelligent than they were.

But Alyse snorted. “No, obviously.” Her mouth tugged down at the corner. “I wish, though, they’re too sweet for this.” Pet purred softly. They almost wished- but no. They couldn’t think like that.

Pet had been vaguely aware of the approach of a group of men, coming up the street, but, lulled by the feeling of safety Alyse’s warm constancy had given them, they’d not paid the men much attention.

But they didn’t pass by and they didn’t go into the fast food place just around the corner, the bright light and noise of which bled out onto the street but suddenly seemed too far away.

“Look at that, hey.” Pet’s ears lifted and they tensed warily, glancing sideways and then up at Alyse, but both she and her friend were on their phones and didn’t seem to have noticed. “Kieran, Kieran, hey, look, man.” The man’s voice was clear and sharp, like Master Parry’s was when he had guests around. “It’s a creature, look at it.”

Pet felt the moment Alyse noticed the group, her leg tensing where Pet was leaning against her.

The men stopped in front of them and Pet kept their head down and tried to breathe through their fear. The night felt like it had been so, so long but the atavistic nervousness the men’s presence evoked made their heart pound and their paws twitch to just run, run away. Alyse had been kind but she was an exception. Humans were cruel. Master Parry had been right to keep them inside, right to say that they were lucky.

“Mate,” a different voice said, deeper, “if you’re looking at the animal, you’re fucking missing out on the real view.”

Alyse twitched and Pet whined softly. Alyse was scared, they could feel it, heard how her breath caught in her throat. Her fear gave them the tiny ounce of courage they needed to risk glancing up.

The man who’d spoken, presumably Kieran, was big, almost as big as the man who’d stopped Master Harrison at the front of the queue. Kieran was dressed in a suit, held a beer can in his hand, and had a smirk on his wide-jawed face that reminded Pet of Harrison’s. Kieran wasn’t looking at them, but at Alyse and a flash of something hot and protective made Pet shift forwards, not much, but enough that they were slightly in front of Alyse’s legs. It was enough to draw Kieran’s attention.

Kieran didn’t look impressed. “What even is that thing?” He laughed, grinned coldly at Alyse, and finished off his beer before dropping the can in the gutter. The metallic rattle made Pet startle and Alyse’s hand found their shoulder, just resting there. “No offense, gorgeous,” Kieran said, his words crisp like new money, “but your pet’s one ugly motherfucker.” He and his friends laughed and Pet swallowed thickly.

“Whatever,” Alyse’s voice was steady but quiet.

Pet glanced behind the group towards Alyse’s other friend, the one who had been standing by the car earlier, but the car had driven off and the street was empty now, Alyse’s friend stood at a short distance, warily watching on. She didn’t seem to want to come any closer to the men and Pet could hardly blame her. Alyse’s other friend had moved very slightly closer to Alyse’s side but was still pretending to be on her phone, though her fingers hadn’t moved in several minutes and she was as tense as Alyse.

“What did you pay for it?” Kieran asked, faux-casual, and took a step closer, his focus apparently on Pet now. Alyse tensed further. He came closer again and Pet, for the first time in almost longer than they could remember, felt a growl building in their throat. “It wouldn’t bite, would it?” Kieran teased.

One of Kieran friends, the one who’d first spotted Pet, started trying to talk to Alyse’s friend, and then Kieran made a sudden movement forwards and Pet snapped.

Pet didn’t know whether Kieran had been reaching for them or Alyse, but he was too fucking close and Alyse was scared. Alyse, who’d been kinder to them than anyone and didn’t deserve to be made afraid by some asshole who thought he could do anything. The last time Pet had showed anything resembling aggression, Master Parry had had Pet’s canines pulled out with pliers. But Master wasn’t here.

Pet went for Kieran’s face, launching themself forwards with a harsh snarl torn from their throat and ripping the leash from Alyse’s lax grip. Digging their claws into Kieran’s grey suit, they slammed their forehead into the man’s nose, acting on nothing but hatred and instinct.

Kieran reeled back in shock with a yelped cry, and fell off the curb into the road with Pet on top of his broad chest, scrabbling at his face with their claws. But in the midst of their fury, they hadn’t forgotten who they were doing it for and Pet twisted around to find Alyse staring at them, wide-eyed, one hand still slightly outstretched where Pet had pulled the leash from her palm.

“GO!” Pet cried, without even thinking, their voice cracking from disuse and urgency. “Run!” And, after a second, Alyse did, grabbing her friend’s arm and hurrying away down the street, looking back once with an expression Pet wouldn’t forget; shock and concern and fear.

“Fucking-” Kieran tore Pet off him while Pet was distracted and Pet screamed when they hit the pavement, or road, they weren’t sure. Their shoulder took the brunt of the impact, but they’d hit their ribs and head too and they whimpered, their tail a spot of bright agony as it was jarred by the fall.

Kieran and his group crowded around before Pet could even get their paws under them and a solid kick sent them back down straight after with a bitten-off yelp of pain. They curled their paws over their head and cried as the men closed in on them.

~

Sometime later, words reached Pet’s ears as if through water, “Hey, hey, hold it.”

Pet’s mouth tasted like it had after Master Parry had taken the pliers to their teeth and they retched, coughing up leftover alcohol, and bits of chips stained pink. They didn’t know if they could open their eyes and they didn’t try. Everything hurt. This was what they got for being a _bad_ creature, for attacking a human and speaking, and all the bad thoughts they’d had over the years, all the times they’d not been grateful enough. They wanted to beg Master’s forgiveness, to tell him that they were sorry, truly, truly sorry and they’d do _anything_ ; never speak again, never be anything but totally grateful, if only Master would take them away from these men and their hard shoes and their hatred.

And yet, they weren’t sorry for protecting Alyse. She’d got away, so Pet couldn’t be sorry for what they’d done, not really.

“We don’t want to kill it. Creatures are worth something. Pick it up. We’ll sell it.”

**Author's Note:**

> Not looking good, is it? :/


End file.
